13 ms·

After 15 years of cell phone spam, anything that shows up as a number on my personal phone, and not a contact, is reflexively ignored. I don't think I'll ever s

After 15 years of cell phone spam, anything that shows up as a number on my personal phone, and not a contact, is reflexively ignored. I don't think I'll ever shake this habit: if it is important, they will leave a message.

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
I'm struggling with the decision of whether to automatically block anyone not in my contact list and leave a message in my voicemail explaining why. Don't want to be unfriendly, but it's only getting more ridiculous.
- grahamburger 7y ago
  Recent versions of Android have an option to automatically screen callers who are not in your contact list. The caller gets a robot asking them why they're calling, and you can view the transcript of their response in real time and decide whether or not to answer.
  - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
    I thought that was Pixel only option - I'll have to dig in and see if it's available on a Samsung.
  - ChuckMcM 7y ago
    As I recall this was a Google Voice feature as well. My mobile carrier puts "scam likely" on calls that its algorithms have determined are likely spam, I wish there was an android option to just not ring the phone if that was the caller ID name.
    - bonestamp2 7y ago
      My carrier was doing that but I haven't seen it on any spam calls lately.
  - texasbigdata 7y ago
    It's nice but buggy!
  - unclebucknasty 7y ago
    I've used this feature and each time it occurs to me that the next step for spammers will likely be to simply leave the message, as they will still get an impression via the transcript.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  I did this as soon as the iPhone offered it. It only bit me once in several years - I was expecting a call-back from a doctor and they weren't in my contacts. Missed their call, which caused a several hour delay and some annoyance (thankfully not for something critical).
- zszugyi 7y ago
  I did try it for a bit, but it was annoying when Uber drivers and delivery people were trying to reach me.
  - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
    Yeah, that's my fear as well - I'd miss signal in the noise filtering.
  - frank2 7y ago
    Maybe we should lobby Uber to add functionality to their mobile app to eliminate the need for a legacy phone call. Maybe after a few popular apps do that, the phone companies will start to fear losing relevance and finally take effective action against phone spam.
- p2t2p 7y ago
  > Don't want to be unfriendly Given my experience with robocall and stuff, I _do_ want to be unfriendly. I hate to guts that a lot of people assume that they can interrupt you at any given moment. One guy called me when I was driving and wasn't having any of that, kept on complaining that I didn't pick up. My current plan right now is to have a landline number from my internet provider (that's SIP essentially). Whenever anybody requires a phone number give that. Now, there will be an voice mail device on my side with message: "Hello, you've reached p2t2p and his wife. We _DO_ _NOT_ appreciate your call. If you think your message is important, leave a message and we maybe, just maybe call you back. Otherwise, use email please". And that is not even for bloody robocalls. Every single bloody prick think they are important enough to steal my time. Hey, I wrote you an email so respond to email, dumbass, don't call me. There were one windows installation company that stopped interacting with as soon as I told them that I won't pick up the phone and asked them to use email. I guess the ultimate solution is to have my iPhone in permanent "contacts only" mode.
  - macintux 7y ago
    I’ve been paying for Vonage for 10-15 years now so I can keep my old landline phone number active to give out to businesses. Haven’t had a phone hooked up to it for nearly all that time. Voicemail + transcription works great.
    - koolba 7y ago
      You can get that for free with a google voice number. If you can’t port directly, the indirect method is to sign up for a PAYGO mobile phone and port your number there as an interim hop.
      - macintux 7y ago
        I don’t trust Google with my email. Not going to trust them with my voicemail. (Yes, I know, a significant portion of my email ends up in their hands anyway.)
jrimbault 7y ago
I've pushed that reflex further : if it's important, the information will find its way to me.
- alharith 7y ago
  "Hi jimmy, this is your mother. My phone died so I am calling you from the hospital phone. Your dad is in the hospital. Come quick." In the above scenario that happened to me, sometimes you just don't have time to let the information find you.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    That would suck, but fear of that scenario isn't enough to make me answer my phone for spammers 5 times a day.
    - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
      Also, I'd hope they'd have the initiative to leave both a voicemail and an SMS.
      - jfengel 7y ago
        Especially with a service like Google Voice that will transcribe your voicemails. I will look at those; it takes a fraction of a second to dismiss the spam. Fortunately, I only get a few of those a week, so far.
        BenjiWiebe 7y ago
        Check your spam folder. I find Google voice itself is pretty good at blocking spam calls/messages/texts.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - paulie_a 7y ago
dbg31415 7y ago
If it’s important, they can text me. I ain’t listening to voice mail. Eww, what is this, the Middle Ages?
- sinak 7y ago
  About a year ago I changed my voicemail to say "Sorry I missed your call. I don't listen to voicemails, please send me a message by SMS instead." I couldn't recommend doing so more. Text is so much easier, even if you have voicemail transcription.
- Simon_says 7y ago
  Sounds like you're in your Middle Age.
manigandham 7y ago
This is now a feature on both iOS and Android to mute incoming calls that are not a contact. Voicemails still work fine, and with automatic transcription and all the other digital channels still open, there's no real reason to worry about anonymous calls anymore.
- evan_ 7y ago
  Yeah this worked really well for me until the county health department called from an unknown number to tell me my child had been exposed to COVID-19.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    Did they not leave a voicemail? Was there no transcription? How'd you end up getting the info?
    - evan_ 7y ago
      They called my wife, who didn’t have that set. They actually also emailed and texted us both so in reality there was no chance of us missing that specific message...
codegeek 7y ago
Yep me too. I just don't pick ANY unknown number, period. If it is important, they will leave a voicemail.
dheera 7y ago
I actually block all calls unless they are scheduled in advance, with the exception of SO/family

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago

I'm struggling with the decision of whether to automatically block anyone not in my contact list and leave a message in my voicemail explaining why. Don't want to be unfriendly, but it's only getting more ridiculous.

grahamburger 7y ago
Recent versions of Android have an option to automatically screen callers who are not in your contact list. The caller gets a robot asking them why they're calling, and you can view the transcript of their response in real time and decide whether or not to answer.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  I thought that was Pixel only option - I'll have to dig in and see if it's available on a Samsung.
- ChuckMcM 7y ago
  As I recall this was a Google Voice feature as well. My mobile carrier puts "scam likely" on calls that its algorithms have determined are likely spam, I wish there was an android option to just not ring the phone if that was the caller ID name.
  - bonestamp2 7y ago
    My carrier was doing that but I haven't seen it on any spam calls lately.
- texasbigdata 7y ago
  It's nice but buggy!
- unclebucknasty 7y ago
  I've used this feature and each time it occurs to me that the next step for spammers will likely be to simply leave the message, as they will still get an impression via the transcript.
alistairSH 7y ago
I did this as soon as the iPhone offered it. It only bit me once in several years - I was expecting a call-back from a doctor and they weren't in my contacts. Missed their call, which caused a several hour delay and some annoyance (thankfully not for something critical).
zszugyi 7y ago
I did try it for a bit, but it was annoying when Uber drivers and delivery people were trying to reach me.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  Yeah, that's my fear as well - I'd miss signal in the noise filtering.
- frank2 7y ago
  Maybe we should lobby Uber to add functionality to their mobile app to eliminate the need for a legacy phone call. Maybe after a few popular apps do that, the phone companies will start to fear losing relevance and finally take effective action against phone spam.
p2t2p 7y ago
> Don't want to be unfriendly Given my experience with robocall and stuff, I _do_ want to be unfriendly. I hate to guts that a lot of people assume that they can interrupt you at any given moment. One guy called me when I was driving and wasn't having any of that, kept on complaining that I didn't pick up. My current plan right now is to have a landline number from my internet provider (that's SIP essentially). Whenever anybody requires a phone number give that. Now, there will be an voice mail device on my side with message: "Hello, you've reached p2t2p and his wife. We _DO_ _NOT_ appreciate your call. If you think your message is important, leave a message and we maybe, just maybe call you back. Otherwise, use email please". And that is not even for bloody robocalls. Every single bloody prick think they are important enough to steal my time. Hey, I wrote you an email so respond to email, dumbass, don't call me. There were one windows installation company that stopped interacting with as soon as I told them that I won't pick up the phone and asked them to use email. I guess the ultimate solution is to have my iPhone in permanent "contacts only" mode.
- macintux 7y ago
  I’ve been paying for Vonage for 10-15 years now so I can keep my old landline phone number active to give out to businesses. Haven’t had a phone hooked up to it for nearly all that time. Voicemail + transcription works great.
  - koolba 7y ago
    You can get that for free with a google voice number. If you can’t port directly, the indirect method is to sign up for a PAYGO mobile phone and port your number there as an interim hop.
    - macintux 7y ago
      I don’t trust Google with my email. Not going to trust them with my voicemail. (Yes, I know, a significant portion of my email ends up in their hands anyway.)

jrimbault 7y ago

I've pushed that reflex further : if it's important, the information will find its way to me.

alharith 7y ago
"Hi jimmy, this is your mother. My phone died so I am calling you from the hospital phone. Your dad is in the hospital. Come quick." In the above scenario that happened to me, sometimes you just don't have time to let the information find you.
- catalogia 7y ago
  That would suck, but fear of that scenario isn't enough to make me answer my phone for spammers 5 times a day.
  - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
    Also, I'd hope they'd have the initiative to leave both a voicemail and an SMS.
    - jfengel 7y ago
      Especially with a service like Google Voice that will transcribe your voicemails. I will look at those; it takes a fraction of a second to dismiss the spam. Fortunately, I only get a few of those a week, so far.
      - BenjiWiebe 7y ago
        Check your spam folder. I find Google voice itself is pretty good at blocking spam calls/messages/texts.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- paulie_a 7y ago

dbg31415 7y ago

If it’s important, they can text me. I ain’t listening to voice mail. Eww, what is this, the Middle Ages?

sinak 7y ago
About a year ago I changed my voicemail to say "Sorry I missed your call. I don't listen to voicemails, please send me a message by SMS instead." I couldn't recommend doing so more. Text is so much easier, even if you have voicemail transcription.
Simon_says 7y ago
Sounds like you're in your Middle Age.

manigandham 7y ago

This is now a feature on both iOS and Android to mute incoming calls that are not a contact. Voicemails still work fine, and with automatic transcription and all the other digital channels still open, there's no real reason to worry about anonymous calls anymore.

evan_ 7y ago
Yeah this worked really well for me until the county health department called from an unknown number to tell me my child had been exposed to COVID-19.
- manigandham 7y ago
  Did they not leave a voicemail? Was there no transcription? How'd you end up getting the info?
  - evan_ 7y ago
    They called my wife, who didn’t have that set. They actually also emailed and texted us both so in reality there was no chance of us missing that specific message...

codegeek 7y ago

Yep me too. I just don't pick ANY unknown number, period. If it is important, they will leave a voicemail.

dheera 7y ago

I actually block all calls unless they are scheduled in advance, with the exception of SO/family